Baseball

The 2018 high school baseball season saw sensational performances on the mound, incredible web gems, and clutch hits.  Jersey Sports Zone captured hundreds of great moments and here are the Top 10 most viewed games on Jersey Sports Zone from last season in New Jersey high school baseball: #10: Toms River South 6 Brick Township 5 Legendary Coach Ken Frank and The Toms River South Indians found themselves in a rare position on Monday afternoon, winless through the first 3 games of 2018. Tied at 5 with Brick Township in the bottom of the 7th, South got a clutch double down the line in left by Jordan Erbe, followed up by an infield single off the bat of Shane Gibson to give the Indians a 6-5 walk-off win. Monmouth University commit TJ Scuderi continued his hot streak at the plate, going 2 for 3 in the win, while John Coppola hit a double & triple in the loss for the Dragons. Watch the Highlights from Toms River on JSZ! #9: St. Joe’s-Metuchen 4 Don Bosco Prep 1 St. Joseph Metuchen gave a new meaning to playing “lights out” baseball. Falcons had a 1-0 lead after 3 innings when the lights went out at Don Bosco Prep due to an electrical problem, a 20 minute delay followed before play would resume. The lights may have came back on, but the St. Joes defense kept Don Bosco in the dark. The Falcons, led by pitchers Nicolas Estes (Win) and Jake Hellwig (Save), shut down the Ironmen offense and got a 4-1 win on the road. Watch the Highlights from Ramsey on JSZ. #8: CBA 6 Wall 5 – Strike Out Autism at Central Regional High School Thomas Rodgers delivered a bases-loaded single in the 7th inning to give the Colts a walk-off win and a historic 800th career win for long-time CBA coach Marty Kenney.  JSZ’s Jay Cook has highlights and post-game reaction from Bayville: #7: Middletown South 7 Middletown North 0  Sophomore Chris O’Connor had three hits, 2 RBI’s and a critical defensive play at third base in his varsity debut to lead Middletown South to a 7-0 win over their crosstown rival on opening day.  Joe Sprake and Robby Zega combined on the shutout.  Sprake threw four scoreless frames with 8 K’s and Zega got out of a jam in the 5th inning that allowed the Eagles to bust the game open.  Middletown North starter Tyler Ras struck out 12 in five innings in front of multiple MLB scouts who watched his first start of 2018.  O’Connor made a diving play at third base to get South out of a bases-loaded jam and doubled off of Ras to set up the game’s first run.  JSZ has the highlights of another great battle of Middletown: #6: Seton Hall Prep 5 Caldwell 3 The Pirates of Seton Hall Prep, (5-1 on the season, No. 12 in NJ Top 20) found themselves trailing Caldwell on two separate occasions in the late innings. Down by 1 run in the 6th, Ryan Sheppard came through with an RBI double off the wall in right to tie the game at 3. Sheppard then scored on a base hit by Anthony Peterson to give Seton Hall a 4-3 lead. The Pirates would add one more run in the 6th to make it a 5-3 lead and RHP Ryan Toal took care of the rest in the 7th. Toal picked up the save and Seton Hall Prep came away with the comeback win. Watch Highlights of SHP and Caldwell on JSZ! #5: Saint Augustine 6 Delbarton 1 The rematch from last year’s Non- Public A State Final between No. 1 Delbarton and No. 2 St. Augustine was the must-see game for any baseball fan. Both teams came in undefeated and let’s just say the flames haven’t cooled down just yet from last June. The Green Wave struck first off a wild pitch from Cole Vanderslice to go up 1-0 in the third. That would be the only run given up from Vanderslice in his 7 strikeout game. The Hermits got the bats going in the fifth to put 4 runs on the board and took a commanding lead heading into the seventh. Virginia Tech commit Jack Billings helped add 2 more runs in the final inning to bring his stats to 2-4 with 3 RBI’s. Billings then closed out the game on the mound to earn strikeouts 4 and 5. Watch the highlights now: #4: Perth Amboy 1 St. Joe’s-Metuchen 0 (12 innings) Pitching duel or defensive showdown, call it what you want, hits and runs were tough to come by for Perth Amboy and St. Joseph Metuchen. After 12 innings of scoreless baseball, Bryan Valenzuela came to the plate with a runner on 3rd base and one thing on his mind; Winning. Valenzuela did just that, a walk off basehit to right field from the junior third baseman gave Perth Amboy a 1-0 victory over St. Joes. Jose Peralta picked up the W on the mound coming on in reflief for starter Virgilia Cabrera who went 9 1/3 innings, with 5 K’s and zero runs for the Panthers. His counterpart Jake Hellwig kept pace with 9 IP, and 6 K’s in the loss for St. Joes. Watch highlights of the extra inning thriller on JSZ! #3: Don Bosco Prep 11 Bergen Catholic 3 Don Bosco Prep traveled to Lyndhurst looking to take down their rival school Bergen Catholic for the second time in just three days. The Ironmen placed Iona bound Drew Helmstetter on the mound, and the lefty did his job. Helmstetter struck out 9 in 6 innings while allowing just 2 runs. The Don Bosco offense did its job as well, erupting for 7 runs in the 4th inning, and would go on to score 11 in the game, led by Ryan Carr (3 for 4 2RBI). Watch Highlights of Bosco – Bergen on JSZ! #2: Red Bank Catholic 7 Monmouth Regional 6 (8 innings) One of the top individual performances of 2018 came from the Shore Conference.  David Glancy launched three towering solo homers in three consecutive at-bats as the Caseys rallied for an extra-innings win.  RBC had a 6-2 lead in the 6th inning after Glancy’s third blast of the game, but Monmouth Regional rallied for four runs in the bottom of the frame starting with an Eli Rife 2-run homer, a Justin Scotto RBI double and a Ricky Voss base hit to left that plated Scotto.  In the 8th, Ryan O’Hara hit a fly ball to left that was dropped bringing home Glancy with the game-winning run.  Watch the highlights of a wild game in Tinton Falls! #1: Saint Augustine Prep 1 Delbarton 0 – Non-Public “A” State Championship It was one of the best pitchers duels of 2018.  Cole Vanderslice and Jack Leiter were sensational under the lights at Hamilton Veterans Park.  In the end, Vanderslice threw a complete game shutout to give the Hermits the state crown.  Watch the highlights and post-game reaction from a tremendous game: 2018 JSZ Web Gems of the Year! Thanks to the great efforts from the diamond all year long.  Take a look back at the best web gems captured by our cameras!

Olympic-Colonial 7 Burlington County 2 The Olympic-Colonial All-Stars used a 5-run 3rd inning to take control and win the Philadelphia Phillies Carpenter Cup for a record sixth time.  Burlington County scored two runs in the top of the first, but four Olympic-Colonial pitchers combined on eight shutout innings.  JSZ has the highlights of the championship game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia:

The spring sports season saw breathtaking goals, heart-stopping hits and incredible catches on the diamond.  We wrap up the 2017-18 high school sports year by asking you to cast your vote in our 2018 JSZ Spring Sports Plays of the Year.  We’ll keep our polls open through Friday at 9:00 p.m. and honor the winners with a placque or a JSZ Game Ball.  A special thanks to all the athletes we covered for giving us so many special highlights and thanks to you for your support of Jersey Sports Zone! Take Our Poll Take Our Poll Take Our Poll

St. Augustine 1 Delbarton 0  – Non- Public A Final  Cole Vanderslice threw a complete game 2-hit masterpiece to outduel Jack Leiter and give the Hermits a state championship after falling in the finals in the previous two years.  Both pitchers were dominant against potent lineups.  Leiter, who came into the game with 8 consecutive no-hit innings, was able to put up four more hitless frames before Kevin Easie had an infield single to lead off the 5th.  Easie moved to third base following a pair of outs.  A squeeze attempt failed, but with Easie off the bag at third the throw went into left field which resulted in the only run of the game.  Watch the highlights of an outstanding game on Saturday night in Hamilton: Gloucester Catholic 10 DePaul 3 – Non- Public B Final The Rams raced out to a 4-0 first inning lead and built an 8-0 advantage as freshman Anthony Solometo pitched five shutout innings with 11 strikeouts to give Gloucester Catholic a second straight Non-Public “B” state championship.  Luke Lesch hit a two-run HR in the first inning and had three RBI’s to lead Gloucester Catholic’s 10-hit attack.  JSZ has the highlights and post-game reaction from Hamilton Veteran’s Park:   Middlesex 3 Park Ridge 0 – NJSIAA Group 1 State Championship  Middlesex captured their second consecutive Group 1 State Title with a 3-0 win over Park Ridge Saturday afternoon. It was clear from the beginning it would be a close game as both teams were unable to score in the first three innings. In the fourth the Blue Jays would score a run off an error on a bunt to lead Park Ridge 1-0. Ryan Vollmer would then send a 2 RBI shot to center to make it a three run game. Starting pitcher Kyle Nepton dominated on the mound, throwing a one hit shutout to lead Middlesex to it’s fifth State Championship. Watch the highlights now:

Eastern 4 Saint Augustine Prep 1 – Diamond Classic Championship Jesse Barbera threw an eight-inning complete game and Eastern scored three runs in the 8th inning to win the 45th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic on its home field despite being the away team.  Eastern ends Saint Augustine Prep’s 13 game win streak, but the Hermits are still in the hunt for a state championship.  SNJ Today’s Mike Frankel has highlights from the South Jersey baseball tournament staple:  

Toms River North 6 Monmouth Regional 0 – Shore Conference Tournament Semifinal Jared Bellissimo and Brendan Mullins combined on a four-hit shutout and the Mariners used back to back three-run frames in the 2nd and 3rd to reach the SCT finals for a second straight year.  Toms River North will face Central Regional in the championship game on Monday night at the home of the Lakewood BlueClaws.  JSZ has highlights of the defending champs getting the win at Count Basie Park in Red Bank: Jersey Sports Zone is able to capture great moments from Toms River North thanks to Peak Coaching for Success.  Visit peakcoachingforsuccess.com to learn more about their Athlete Development Camp this summer!  

After rain delays postponed the 2018 Mercer County Tournament two weeks fans were finally treated to an epic 4-2 showdown between NJ Top 20 teams (3) Nottingham and top seeded Hopewell Valley. The Bulldogs got behind Ace pitcher Andy Blake who would keep the game scoreless through four innings before scoring the first run of the game. Following a 2 RBI double from Liam Cleary, Blake then drove in a run to extend the lead to 4-0. After surrendering a 2R HR to Nottingham’s Nick Houghton he would also buckle down for the last six outs and finish the day with 7 strike outs to lead Hopewell Valley to its first ever County Title. Watch the highlights: Sponsor! Thank you to Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for sponsoring our Hopewell Valley and Nottingham coverage year- round on JSZ!

Raritan 1 Rumson-Fair Haven 0 (9 innings) – Central Jersey Group 2 Shawn O’Hea delivered the walk-off game-winner in the bottom of the 9th as the Rockets got a nine-inning complete game shutout from Zack Johnston to advance to the quarterfinals in Central Jersey Group 2.  Johnston and Alex Burnett were locked in a tremendous pitcher’s duel.  Burnett exited the game after seven innings and reaching his pitch count.  Johnston wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 7th and threw just 99 pitches in his nine-inning gem.  JSZ has the highlights and post-game reaction from a great Shore Conference battle in the state playoffs:   Jersey Sports Zone’s coverage of Rumson-Fair Haven is brought to you by ServPro of Eatontown-Long Branch.  Great Raritan moments are possible thanks to our friends at BCB Bayshore – Your Community Bank Sayreville 2 Princeton 0 – Central Group 4 The opening round of the Central Group 4 State Tournament saw a great pitching battle between 13th seed Princeton and fourth seeded Sayreville. In the first two innings Ben Amon for Princeton and Christian Aich for Sayreville both had six strike outs. The Bombers would put 2 runs on the board with a sac fly and a double from Anthony Gambardella to advance to the quarterfinals where they will face fifth seed Old Bridge who eliminated them for the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. Sponsor! Thank you to Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for sponsoring our Princeton coverage on JSZ! Schalick 4 Cape May Tech – South Jersey Group 1 Ethan Long’s RBI double in the bottom of the 7th plated the game-winner.  SNJ Today’s Mike Frankel brings us the highlights: